For my ‘musings’ for this Monday, I wanted to bring out some research behind some ‘education’ advertisements. These are inserted carefully between games on your smart phone. If you play word games, the education ads are more frequent than if you play games with matching fruit.

While we know the CCSS Machine is everywhere, it’s not surprising we see the in-our-faces propaganda showing up like this. The simple solution? Stop playing the games on your phone. However, while you may stop, what about the millions of others who won’t and thus those ads continue to be seen?

Below, I’ve going to show you 3 such examples.

Curio Learning’s Advertisement:

Warriors, note this one is targeting teachers. We know how awfully teachers are treated by the CCSS Machine.

What’s interesting about this free app (Curio Learning) you can download to your smart phone or computer: is by invitation only.

Curio Learning is also seeing education as something to be improved upon globally. The founder of Curio Learning is Ashley Lamb-Sinclair (KY’s 2016 Teacher of the Year). Her inspiration for creating Curio Learning, LLC? The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.(*Note: be sure to read all 4 pages of the above embedded article so you can see which teachers are targeted.)
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If you check out the blog for Curio Learning, you’ll see a definite global agenda in the posts. For example, “Treat Your Classroom Like a Temple of Heaven”. This one was written by a NJ Teacher of the Year (2016) and featured by Lamb-Sinclair. In the “Heaven” article, the writer reveals that the NEA (National Education Association) is behind the globalization efforts aimed at teachers.

Of course, Warriors, NEA’s ties to the UN (United Nations) and other global agenda carrying education reform groups is no secret. It’s also no secret that NEA is the group behind all the “Teachers of the Year” awards.********************************************************************

If you are curious as to how Curio Learning, LLC got its funding, it’s NOT the Gates Foundation, it’s KY basedKale and Flax (Human Centered Design Company).

(*Note: Warriors, if you’ll remember, National School Choice Week also used penguins dressed in yellow scarves. Why are so many CCSS Machine member groups using innocent penguins? Penguins ARE cute, they also live in a huge community. They are seen as ‘cool’, too.)

What teacher doesn’t wish to be ‘cool’? What family doesn’t wish to have their school choice as ‘cool’? For a more psychology based look at why we are seeing more penguins in our education ads, read this 2014 article. The CCSS Machine is diabolical. Using anthropomorphism (humans seeing their characteristics in animals) is one of them.
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Next Up, ICivics’ Advertisement:

Warriors, note right off the bat the social justice aspect is focused on here. “Literacy” should be reserved for English, or, as it’s been re-branded, ELA (English Language Arts). “Civil Rights” belongs in Social Studies. We’ve seen a dangerous mix of social justice in subjects it has no business being inserted into.

According to the iCivics website, you don’t just learn civics, you ‘play’ them. As in, on-line gaming. Founded by former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, you’d think iCivics could get the most basic of American concepts correct: that we are a Republic, NOT a democracy!

On Page 3 of the iCivics latest Annual Report, you’ll see that over 5 million students ‘reaped benefits’of the on-line games. (*Note: you’ll need to scroll down the page to the Annual Report.)

On Page 7, you’ll learn how Civics is being used as a tool to drive student’s behaviors.
Page 9 reveals how iCivics will grow to over 10 million students by 2020 via PBLs (project-based learning). PBLs are code for CBE (competency based learning). CBE is used on a global scale as a ‘one-way-to-learn-so-you-can-earn’ system.

Warriors, if you cannot read from the screen shot which CCSS Machine members are funding iCivics, here are the ones I highlighted: Carnegie Corporation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and, the MacArthur Foundation.

Is it any wonder true American civics is being replaced by social justice initiatives? Below, from the iCivics’“About Us”page (scroll down to the “Evidence” links), how “Next Generation Learning” is tied to Common Core and iCivics:(Source of SRI’s history can be found here.)

Warriors, be sure to go to the SRI website, too. Why? You’ll see how teacher professional development is still tied to CCSS (Common Core State Standards), how SRI is in bio-research for health care, and, more.

Otus’ Advertisement:

For the last advertisement, we’ll find out what or whom is behind Otus.

Warriors, this company exists to streamline data collection. It also is targeting all school leaders, not simply teachers. It’s got its data tracking aimed at assessments, too. Why? So you can see learning ‘in real time’. ( I am going to be a bit ‘cheeky’ here for a moment. If you want to see learning in ‘real time’, it won’t be on a computer!)In the above screen shot, you see a sample image for a student. Notice how it’s “Standards Based Mastery”. While I didn’t find the exact image used in the advertisement, I did find one very similar on the Assessments Management page. You’ll need to scroll down to ‘new and old gradebooks’.

(A 2017 Blog article reveals the Standards will be CCSS/NGSS and accessible by third parties.) (*CCSS: Common Core State Standards/NGSS: Next Generation Science Standards)

Among the Otus partners is CCSS Machine member organization, NWEA (North West Evaluation Association). If you’ve not heard of NWEA, maybe you recognize their ‘work’: RTI scale (Response to Intervention) and MAP (Measures of Academic Progress). This organization is an insult to any parent, student, and educator. Why?
While their advertising brags of ‘measuring what matters’, it is data raping in its most evil form: SEL (social emotional learning). What’s more is MAP is used outside public education! Private schools, home education, and faith based schools use MAP. My former research has proven this time and time again.

Also helping Otus be as CCSS aligned as possible, especially for assessments, is Khan Academy. Khan is among Otus’s shared educational resources. If you wish to learn more about the ‘free’ educational resources Otus offers, look at their ‘Classroom and Learning Management’page. Look for the ‘behavior tracking’ tool/resource.

Look further into SEL, RTI, and MAP, you’ll find Robert Marzano. Marzano is notoriously known for things like “Rigor Walk”. (Teachers and leaders are led around the schools with data tracking tools to measure students without consent.) My evidence on this is also research based and previously published on this blog.

You can access both my NWEA and Marzano articles here. (*Note: one of the NWEA leaders believes that if students letter ‘better’, they will score ‘better’ on these assessments. If they score ‘better’, they’ll be ‘better citizens’. “Better citizens” create a healthy economic system so everyone can benefit. I pointed this out in one of my NWEA articles. Look for it.)

Finally, from Otus’s Blog, an article from January 2018, will show you how to choose the best on-line formative assessment. The research Otus is relying on for helping schools choose the correct assessment? The George Lucas Educational Foundation!

Closing:

Warriors, before we part for today, I wanted to share with you a June 2017 article I wrote centered on the HARD and SOFT Goals embedded in SEL and Common Core. This article is not only vital to understanding why technology can be used against us in education and assessments, it’s vital to see how it ties to education in 2018 and beyond.

Known by a bevy of names, let’s see what we can learn today about CCSS and job development investments grants. Are they only in NC (where I first learned about them) or are these in other states? If so, what are the educational implications?

Some of the companies here love NC. They also are unabashedly supportive of CC aligned citizens.

The Name Game:

As knee deep into CCSS as NC is, I wasn’t too terribly surprised to find one more ‘cutesy’ name to identify yet another grab at jobs and the economy..but is all this tied to education? If so, how? The first name I came across was JDIG, standing for “Job Development Investment Grants”. All the information about JDIGs wasn’t on a JDIG website. No, all the information I found was on a site called “Thrive in NC”. (see: http://www.thrivenc.com/incentives/financial/discretionary-programs/job-development-investment-grant) Now, if you look at the top of the website page, you’ll see the Economic Development Partnership of NC’s name. We’ll come back to the EDP of NC in a little bit. First, what is a JDIG? According to Thrive’s website description, it’s a program embedded in the NC General State Statutes. That means it’s a law that’s been decided upon by the GA (General Assembly) via voting.

So, what’s the law when it comes to JDIGs? In a nutshell, here’s what NC Legislative Study found and has laid out per § 143B-437.50:
1) It’s state policy that NC generate jobs, keep the economy boosted via expanded industries already here and attracting new ones. What we’ve seen via the CCSS/CTE agenda in relation to this is that to accomplish this: anything goes.

2) Not content with keeping NC focused, part of the law is tracking international and national jobs, economic growth as well. Yep, in all things CCSS/CTE, we must be ‘cookie cutter’, workforce ready drones.

3 and 4) Since the economy is changing, re-evaluting how industries are attracted is vital. To accomplish this ‘certain programs’ must be updated. (No specifics here, of course) Also, because of all this updating, not only will citizens be better off, so will the ‘political subdivisions’. With CCSS/CTE firmly in place, states have lost their backbone and sacrificed their U.S. Constitution based 10th Amendment power.

Statute § 143B-437.51 defines all that is in the preceding Statute. You’ll want to note what types of industries, and/or businesses can qualify for the JDIGs. CCSS/CTE groups especially like non-profits to ‘hide’ behind. NC’s Statute includes non-profits. (*Note: this is not to suggest all non-profits are CCSS/CTE aligned, nor are all businesses, industries.) This statute also includes community economic development boards..and we know how integral these are with Chambers of Commerce. Remember, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce received millions from the Gates Foundation for the express purpose of selling us the CCSS/CTE. Each state has been privy to those funds. Look at how hard NC’s Chamber promotes CCSS/CTE. (*Note, my fellow NC resident and anti CCSS warrior, Lady Liberty 1885, has the entire soap opera like drama extremely well detailed on her blog. See: http://ladyliberty1885.com/2015/03/12/foia-nc-chamber-pushing-asrc-to-consider-rebrands-like-florida/ )

Statute § 143B-437.52 is the one which explains how the JDIGs will work and will also include the Attorney General of NC. So, in lay man’s terms, any qualifying business or industry meets with the NC Economic Council and the State AG to determine HOW the growth of jobs (and don’t forget where jobs are, so is education and training) is to be accomplished. (*NOTE: this is my interpretation. I am NOT a lawyer.)

Statute § 143B-437.53 reveals number crunching..as in how many JDIGs in any given area of the state. It appears too many in one location isn’t the best for NC. Whatever happened to freedom of choice where my business is located? Well, in a CCSS/CTE aligned world, freedom’s an enemy.

So, who makes up the Economic Council which makes a lot of these state wide impacting decisions?? Great question. According to this set of statutes, The Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Revenue, the Director of the Office of the State Budget/Management, and two private sector appointees from the General Assembly. (*NOTE: this is all NC state level government. You’d have to check your state for JDIGs or similar if you live outside NC. See who’s involved and to what degree.)

To see the rest of the JDIG related Statutes, including how the individual community economic councils are involved, see: 2013-JDIG-TempUpdates What I can tell you is the “Thrive in NC” website page of member community econ councils is like a “Who’s Who in the Hall of Career Tech Education”. Be sure to enlarge the screen shot below.

Here’s a set of Tweets about the “Thrive in NC” marketing strategy from 2011:

To see a more modern sales pitch for trained workforce seekers, see below:

Your state may OR may not use the same title that NC has chosen. I have found one nationally encompassing document that features all the places you can find career development or workforce training grants, especially those ‘under served’ groups of people. See: career_development_grants_for_underserved_populations

You’ll also want to access the U.S. Dept. of Labor. Just last year, 2014, they gave over 50 million dollars to various states and/or schools for workforce job development training programs. See: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ETA20141754.htm

If you cannot locate your state’s information from either of the above resources, try it from the U.S. Economic Development Administration angle. after all it’s part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce! See: http://www.eda.gov/Their Career Tech Education (CTE) list is quite long and involves many states. See: http://search.eda.gov/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&affiliate=eda&query=Career+Tech+Education&commit=Search

Here’s an excerpt from a stunning report the EDA has. “This report on the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge (JIAC) program represents one element of the larger effort, and has been produced alongside reports on parallel studies of the i6 Challenge (i6) and Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAAF) programs.”(*NOTE: here are other named programs you can use to search for in your state!!) To get the entire study so you can find out how careers, clusters, economy, data tracking, and assessment all are interwoven:EDA-JIAC-Program-Assessment-and-Metrics Oh, and you’ll love this if you live in NC, UNC-Chapel Hill partnered with SRI International to conduct this study project which was completed in 2014.

A few other investment projects you might be able to glean more from, hardly an exhaustive listing, but a start.

It would appear from all this that not only is education compromised via CCSS, CTE, but our state level economies. Not only will we need to research the educational side of our states, but it appears we’ll need to see where our Attorney Generals, Secretary of Economy, etc. stand on CCSS/CTE.